Bow Tie

There's a bow-tie revolution going on. Sure, you've seen them on dandy hipsters or the chiseled and coiffed models who grace the pages of men's fashion magazines. And now, 31-year-old NFL linebacker Dhani Jones has proclaimed: "Just because you wear a bow tie doesn't mean you're a nerd." Jones aims to recruit guys of all shapes, sizes and ages into "the way of the bow tie," urging them to adopt not only his habit of wearing one but also his philosophy, what he calls "the resurgence of the gentleman."

Same clown, new clothes: Is that the main takeaway of McDonald's newest makeover of its brand ambassador Ronald McDonald? On Wednesday, the Oak Brook, Ill., fast-food giant unveiled a new look for the redheaded clown and announced he'd be featured on McDonald's social media accounts. Gone are the lumpy yellow jumpsuit and Where's Waldo-esque sleeves. In its place is something a Weasley twin might wear -- mustard cargo pants and a red-and-white striped rugby shirt. For “special occasions,” there's a bow tie and a red blazer festooned with golden arches and Ron's signature.

Re the difficulties facing the installation of "Collar and Bow" at Walt Disney Concert Hall [July 27]: I have always doubted that the bow tie sculpture is really a good fit for Disney Hall. First, the men of the Philharmonic wear white bow ties; the sculpture is a black bow tie. Second, as most men of the Philharmonic who play violin or viola will tell you, we dislike bow ties. They are cumbersome, bulky and, along with the tux collar, make every concert less comfortable. The position and comfort of the violin/viola under our chin is a vital part of our technique, and the bow- tie only gets in the way. Why we would honor such an annoying article of clothing escapes me. JOHN HAYHURST La Crescenta The writer is a violist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Today it's rare to see a piece of celebrity-worn apparel - on screen or off - that can't be identified and even purchased with a few mouse clicks. From politician Sarah Palin's eyeglass frames (Kawasaki 704s) to film protagonist Jay Gatsby's bow tie (Brooks Bros.), the power of the Internet has made the world one great, big clickable catalog. But what if the jacket you covet was the one Amelia Earhart was wearing on her 1932 solo flight across the Atlantic? Or the dress of your dreams was last seen on Josephine Baker in a 1940 wartime photograph?

If you're going to wear a bow tie, you should learn to tie one. Look at it as the price of admission to the club. Like most things about a man's wardrobe, it's a detail that speaks volumes, and at the end of the night, when it's untied and hanging loosely around your neck, you'll still feel like a million bucks. A couple of important tips: When you're finished, the unbowed end on one side of the tie will actually be in front of the bow part, and on the other side it will be behind.

Illinois Sen. Paul Simon joined the wide-open contest for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination today, saying his bow-tie image is right for voters tired of candidates "slickly packaged like some new soft drink." "I haven't tried to do what is temporarily popular or politically fashionable or what will raise campaign funds," Simon told a crowd of 1,500 cheering supporters, many sporting the silver bow-tie pins that are his campaign's trademark. "You get what you see and hear."

I'm looking around my office and half of my male colleagues are wearing ties. But only one of us--the guy pictured at left--is in a bow tie. And like any bow-tie wearer, I like it that way. Four-in-hand tie widths grow and shrink, and patterns change. But the bow tie is the Old Faithful of the neckwear world. A wise man once explained their charm: Bow ties are never really in style, nor are they ever really out of it.

Would you add a tiara to the Mona Lisa? Would you add a bow tie to one of Van Gogh's self-portraits? Why would you tamper with perfection ("The Hall Mark," by Christopher Knight, July 28)? Overnight, the Walt Disney Concert Hall became a cultural landmark and icon. Adding a sculpture will detract from this precious work of art, not enhance it. David Armendariz Garden Grove With all due respect to Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, who are brilliant artists whose public and private works have always been provocatively appropriate, I have to agree with Christopher Knight, who equates the white collar and black tie sculpture now being fabricated with Carpeteria's genie.

December 3, 1993 | DAVID SOIBELMAN, David Soibelman, a retired journalist, lives in West Los Angeles.

Consider the bow tie. It's a piece of sartorial impertinence, a perky colored, narrow length of cloth secured around the neck in a knot that seems to baffle the most ingenious of men. An insouciant touch to the drab dress of the male. The first time I wore a bow tie, I was a sophomore trying to impress a haughty minx in my high school English class. Over the years, I've worn them in many colors, shapes and sizes. I wore a dazzler at my recent 90th birthday party.

'The justice in the bow tie' April 20, 1920: Born John Paul Stevens in Chicago, the youngest of four sons to a successful hotel owner. 1941: Graduates Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago with a bachelor's degree in English literature. June 7, 1942: Marries Elizabeth Jane Sheeren; they have four children (John Joseph, Kathryn, Elizabeth Jane and Susan Roberta). 1942: Begins three years of service in the U.S. Naval Reserve, earning a Bronze Star as a code-breaker.

The red carpet was buzzing, and actress Riley Reid was trying to practice her acceptance speech. But a sheepish fan in a bow tie wanted a picture. Fellow performers wanted good-luck hugs and kisses. Reporters wanted interviews. Reid, 22, said she'd spoken with her mother before the show and they talked about what the actress might say if she won Female Performer of the Year. Her mom wanted a shout-out from the stage. After all, the actress had inherited one of her better-known attributes from her. Reid had promised she wouldn't forget her. "It's super-flattering and I would be super-happy if I won," Reid said.

Lena Dunham is even more of a New Yorker than you might think. Los Angeles, in fact, makes her "very sad. " And she's not even considering the traffic. The "Girls" creator and star and quintessential Big Apple millennial graces the February cover of Vogue, and photographed by Annie Liebovitz, girlfriend looks good . And she's spilling some dish in the accompanying interview as well. Turns out Dunham hits L.A. for a few weeks each fall to edit one season of the show and brainstorm for the next, working with exec producers Judd Apatow and Jenni Konner, who have families in the Southland.

Decades before Dos Equis introduced the most interesting man in the world via a beer commercial, that title might have belonged to a dog - a debonair, bow tie-wearing, Harvard-educated cartoon beagle named Mr. Peabody. The star of "Peabody's Improbable History," a series of six-minute animated segments that appeared alongside producer Jay Ward's "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoons starting in 1959, Mr. Peabody spoke eight languages, worked on government science projects and bore the moniker "The Woof of Wall Street" for his knack with stocks.

LAS VEGAS - Sure, Anthony Cools is a hypnotist, but this slick pompadour-sporting showman won't help you quit smoking. He drives a Lamborghini and dresses in form-fitting suits with a bow tie, skull ring and pointy-toed, black-and-white Giorgio Brutini wingtips. Under his calculated spell, in fact, you might even start chain-smoking, or engage in other nefarious activities you wouldn't be caught dead doing in your right mind. Maybe you'll move your bra outside your blouse, dirty-flirt with a stranger, or act in a porno casting call - with a chair.

Miranda Kerr is the face - and body - of Mango's fall ad campaign. The Australian model (and wife of actor Orlando Bloom) was photographed in New York by Inez and Vinoodh, Mango announced Tuesday. Justin Bieber's latest alleged altercation (in a club in Southampton early Sunday morning) reportedly was sparked by a waitress and a bow tie. [N.Y. Post] Beyoncé has some new costumes for her Mrs. Carter tour, this time a series of one-of-a-kind pieces from Gucci. [Los Angeles Times]

In addition to the sartorial standouts that have become familiar to watchers of awards-show red carpets over the years (George Clooney and Jon Hamm, to name just two), there seemed to be a fresh crop of style-conscious (and in a couple of cases, -unconscious) guys who managed to make the standard-issue tuxedo an expression of individuality. Below are a couple notable looks -- at both ends of the spectrum: Hits Presenter Aziz Ansari ("Parks and Recreation") looked particularly sharp in his slim, trim black Dior Homme single-button peak lapel tuxedo and black satin bow tie -- with just the perfect amount of white shirt cuff at the wrist.

What do Abraham Lincoln, Stan Laurel, Harry Truman, Frank Sinatra, Karl Marx, Steve Jobs, Winston Churchill, Donald Duck, Mark Twain, Frederick Rasmussen, Manet's "Olympia," Louis Farrakhan and virtually the entire male membership of the Nation of Islam have in common? Well, bow ties, of course. Olympia's admittedly is only a bit of string, but, then again, that's about all she wears except for a bracelet, a pair of bedroom slippers and a hibiscus bloom in her hair.

The maddening thing about wearing a bow tieis not that you must learn to tie it. It is having to answer what bow-tie wearers the world over know as The Two Questions: "Is that a clip-on?" "Why do you wear a bow tie?" The first question is beneath the dignity of the serious bow-tie connoisseur. The second is reasonable enough. Any man with a bow tie under his chin becomes an object of curiosity in a room full of four-in-hands (which is the proper name for the long tie).

Emmy-nominated actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson ("Modern Family") and partner Justin Mikita have just added a new neck knot to their wildly successful month-and-a-half-old line of jaunty bow ties -- a formal style suitable for wedding wear. The couple launched their Tie the Knot line, a collaboration with Chicago-based neckwear and accessories e-tailer the Tie Bar, on Nov. 15, with all proceeds going to fund various groups fighting for marriage equality. The inaugural collection of 20 limited-edition ties, which benefited the group Human Rights Campaign sold out by early December.

For holiday parties, today's sophisticated man can take a cue from runways and red carpets by choosing tuxedos for formal occasions or components thereof for more casual events. Fashion designers, obsessed as they are these days with all manner of tailored clothing and reinvigorated by a generation of young men who are wearing suits for the first time, have been busy reinventing the tux. Style-watchers got wind of the possibilities in 2011 when actor Ryan Gosling, justly celebrated for his red-carpet acumen, gave a one-two punch to tradition by appearing at Cannes in a sky-blue tuxedo for the premiere of "Drive" and a deep maroon counterpart two nights later (both by Salvatore Ferragamo)